: an act or instance of immigrating; specifically : travel into a country for the purpose of permanent residence there

Immigrant

noun | im·mi·grant | \ ˈi-mə-grənt \

: one that immigrates: such as

a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence

Illegal Immigrant

There is no such thing as an “illegal immigrant” because no human being is illegal. This controversial phrase criminalizes the personhood of migrants, rather than the legality of their actions.

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution established rules for naturalized citizenship, but did not place any restrictions on immigration, but limited citizenship to white persons until 1870. The first federal immigration law was enacted in 1875 and it was not until the past century that the U.S. set numerical limits and other restrictions. Today, many of Americans’ ancestors would not qualify to enter the United States under current immigration laws.

According to Justice Anthony Kennedy in Arizona v. United States 2012, it is not a crime for an undocumented person to remain in the U.S. The US Code—Section 1325 states that while it is a violation of federal immigration law to remain in the country without legal authorization, this violation is punishable by civil—not criminal—penalties.